Lotte Corporation - Signiel Residences Tower Gangnam District, S

Maui real estate broker Bruce McDonald is turning the tables on Asian investment in Hawaii real estate with an exclusive listing agreement for condominium units in South Korea’s tallest building, the Lotte World Tower.

The 123-story tower — at 1,819 feet, more than four times the height of Honolulu’s tallest building, First Hawaiian Center, and the fifth-tallest in the world — opened in Seoul last year and has about 223 residences, branded as the Signiel Residences, in addition to retail, office and hotel space. About half of the units have sold already, said McDonald, a Realtor with Maui Real Estate Advisors, which has the exclusive listing in Hawaii for the Seoul building.

The units that are being marketed range from 4,200 square feet to 7,200 square feet and are priced from $4.3 million to $8.8 million.

McDonald held two sales seminars in Honolulu last week for the project and said about 60 people attended.

“Everybody was pretty amazed and in awe about the project as a whole,” he said.

The units also come with another perk — permission to apply for a visa that allows permanent immigrant status in South Korea.

Investors from Korea, meanwhile, are behind some of the new developments proposed in Honolulu, including SamKoo Development's Kapiolani Residence and The Central Ala Moana, and the recent purchase for $29 million of the former KGMB television headquarters.

Lotte is the title sponsor of Hawaii’s LPGA Lotte Championship, the Lotte Championship Presented by Hershey, held at Ko Olina Golf Club. The South Korean industrial conglomerate last year signed an agreement to extend its title sponsorship to 2020.